Quote:Bortles looks like he could become a better passer than Roethlisberger, actually. 

 

 

The impressive thing about Blake so far is that he's been remarkably consistent with the high YPA every game. Over 9.0 in every game so far. He's not afraid to go downfield and do so consistently. I just pray the coaches continue to allow him to do this and don't neuter him into a game manager. 

 

This is the kind of QB I have been asking for for years. And why I bashed just about every QB we've brought in since Brunell. Leftwich was seen as a downfield passer by some, but his YPA flat out sucked. 

 

This is something you pointed out a couple of years ago when the discussion was Blaine Gabbert, and you were right.  The most telling statistic when evaluating a QB is yards per attempt.  Total yards passing divided by total attempts.   Bortles is the most aggressive downfield thrower we've had in a long long time, maybe since Mark Brunell.  And there are no fluky plays to inflate his YPA stat, either.   No screen pass that went 80 yards, nothing like that. 

 

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/...blogs&_r=0

 

“To put it most simply, passing yards per attempt is the single most important indicator of success in all of football. The short version is this:

* Teams that win the passing YPA battle almost always win the game.

* Teams that lose the passing YPA battle almost always lose the game.

* The winningest teams in history are typically the teams with the best passing YPA average.

* The winningest quarterbacks in history are typically the quarterbacks with the best passing YPA average.”

 

Like you, I have also noticed throughout the preseason, Bortles has been averaging close to 9 YPA, which is pretty high.  

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